Our Last Pact
by KlonoaDreams
Summary: AU Touko will do anything to keep a promise…anything. Even if it means she has to be someone she isn't. It's fairly difficult, given the standards she has to go through and the distance she'll go at keeping it. It's not easy being two people…N has shown her that indirectly without figuring it out.
1. The Advent

A/N You know me, Pokémon Fanatic till the end! XD Yeah…I can't wait till this game comes out in America (March's WAAAY too far along! DX), so until then…get used to the Japanese names! Hmph! No complaining and telling me that the English name for the Starters are out! That is not enough to hold up a Pokémon Story in MY terms, hmph!

_**Disclaimer for whole story:**_ _**I don't own Pokémon Black and White or any of the Pokémon franchise at all!**_ The only thing I own is my DS and such! If I owned this…I'd be rich and this game would've been out in the US by now…yeah…besides

4-17-11 Okay, by now the game has come out and all the English names have been given to the Pokémon, but...I've grown REALLY attached to the Japanese names and for me, it'll be a while before I change the Japanese names to English, so rather than change them...I'm keeping them, BUT! I shall give you guys a guide...which Japanese name equals with English name! Yeah! ...don't hate me because I'm lazy! DX

7-3-12 Decided to finally give these Pokémon their English names…but that doesn't mean I'm changing the onomatopoeia that I have already put down! Just…deal with it for now…

Summary: AU Touko will do anything to keep a promise…anything. Even if it means she has to be someone she isn't. It's fairly difficult, given the standards she has to go through and the distance she'll go at keeping it. It's not easy being two people…N has shown her that indirectly without figuring it out.

This story is a little darker, but then again, Black and White had a somewhat darker storyline in comparison to the other games.

"_This"_ is Pokémon talking/human thoughts/flashback

"_**This"**_ is Pokémon translation for Poké speak/X-Transceiver (AKA, X-Transceiver) and stuff similar to that, like a phone

"This" is humans talking

"**This"** is Pokémon thoughts

…

* * *

…

The sky was an azure blue, decorated with delicate wisps of white clouds. A breeze began to pick up, gently rustling through the trees and blowing away any loose leaves. It was a pleasant feel…especially in the summer weather.

A young lady had just walked out of a building, or her laboratory, to be precise. Behind the laboratory was a large yard full of habitats suitable for the Pocket Monsters or Pokémon (for short) lived. Pokémon that were crucial for the young lady's research on the many Pokémon that lived in the Unova region. For you see, this lady was not your average Nuvema Town resident, but a Pokémon Professor.

Her life and joy was set on discovering the many secrets and unknown mysteries on the many creatures that were known as Pokémon. Pokémon…they were creatures that humans lived alongside with. Sometimes they play with them, other times they work together, but the most notable would have to be the bonds created through battling other Pokémon. It was a phrase that had been repeated amongst other professors from other regions.

The young lady blinked and snapped out of her inner monologue before sighing and shaking her head. That was about the tenth time she had done that this week… But who could blame her? Today was the day that three certain residents of Nuvema Town would finally be leaving their quaint little hometown.

The lady, Professor Juniper Araragi took a deep breath and exhaled, smiling afterwards. This was her first time she was going to give three teens in her hometown their long, awaited Starter Pokémon. She had done the same to many others, but none from Nuvema Town.

Professor Juniper looked to her side at the blue box she held with her left arm. It was wrapped with a green ribbon tied into a bow…very simple looking, which was what the Professor wanted it to look. Inside were the three, familiar little red and white spheres. Each contained the soon-to-be Trainers' traveling companions, whom would accompany said Trainers on their journey starting from today on.

Feeling ready, Professor Juniper began walking towards the house where the three teenagers were waiting for her. They had been waiting this long, now today was where the wait would finally end. Though, despite having felt happy that she would see three of her favorite daily visitors, she felt somewhat empty inside…and she knew why.

There were only three…one less than four.

* * *

A tall glasses-wearing boy, around the age of fourteen, waited somewhat impatiently at the top-floor room of his friend's house. He had short, raven-black hair with an ahoge sticking up in a slight, curved manner. He had dark-blue, almost black, eyes and wore blue, white-colored jacket over a white shirt with a red stripe going down the middle and a pair of black pants.

"Late…and today of all times?" the boy, Cheren, said to himself. He sighed and shook his head. "I'd expect this from Bel, but you?"

THUD!

Well, speak of the Houndoom…

That small thud notified Cheren that it was from his friend, Bel (who was about the same age as him). Seeing as the sound seemed to be coming from down stairs or more accurately, on the stairs, Bel had most likely just entered the house and in a rush to get upstairs…she ended up stumbling and falling down. And after a few quick moments, Cheren's assumption was oddly correct as the short-haired blonde was currently huffing and rubbing her cheek as she entered the room.

"Walk much?" Cheren said, smirking at the somewhat agitated look from Bel.

Bel pouted and adjusted the green hat she wore on her head before replying, "Oh, ha ha…Very funny, Cheren!"

Cheren smirked and took of his glasses whilst taking out a small, black handkerchief out of his pocket. He then began to clean his glasses' lens while Bel continued to glare at him.

Bel wore a short-sleeved, white dress that went down past her knees. She wore an orange vest over her dress and wore stockings of the same color. Cheren sneered at this as it was no wonder Bel slipped. Stockings on most floors (or in this case, stairs) were prone to make the wearer slip on their standings while in a rush…Bel was no exception to this. She was a bit of an airhead, but she meant no harm…she was just so excited.

About five minutes had passed in their friend's room when both Cheren and Bel heard steps going up the stairs. Cheren's heart almost skipped a beat and Bel…well, she was about ready to run out the room and see whom it was. Thankfully, Bel managed to be patient…until she saw a certain brown-haired woman wearing the same white lab coat over the same white shirt and green skirt. It was Professor Juniper (wearing the same outfit she had a wardrobe full of duplicates in her room) and in her arms was a blue box…and Bel was currently going right after her!

"Professor Juniper!" exclaimed Bel.

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of the Professor's face as she looked at the blonde rushing towards her. Thankfully, Bel being shoeless on a smooth floor, ended up slipping and falling face-first onto the wooden floor.

THUD!

Cheren sweat dropped whilst Professor Juniper let out a mushroom sigh in relief. Bel pushed herself up from the ground and rubbed her face.

"Ow…" she moaned.

Cheren shook his head and turned to the Professor. "So, you have the Pokémon?"

Professor Juniper wiped her forehead with the hack of her hand before looking at Cheren and nodded.

"I sure do!" said Professor Juniper. "Now, do you want to wait or open—"

"Open!" Cheren and Bel simultaneously said. They had been waiting all week and they would be damned if anything kept them from taking a look at the Pokémon they were being offered.

Professor Juniper sighed and looked around, noticing something. "Where's Touya…?"

"He's late…he's been in the bathroom since I came," said Cheren. "Now come on! I want to see them!"

Bel appeared by Cheren's side quickly, nodding eagerly in agreement with Cheren. "Yeah!"

Professor Juniper shook her head and pulled the ribbon off the ribbon on the box. Afterwards, she took off the top and set the box on a nearby dresser. Cheren and Bel immediately rushed to the box and looked inside. There were three Poké balls, each of them containing a Pokémon.

Professor Juniper picked up a Poké ball and threw it up into the air. Both Cheren and Bel watched as the Poké ball opened and let out a luminous, blue light. The light immediately went to the floor and began to take shape of the Pokémon the Poké ball had contained. The light waned and revealed what Pokémon it was.

"Tepig, the Fire Pig Pokémon," said Professor Juniper.

Tepig was a small pig-like Pokémon with an orange and black coloration. It had large, ovular eyes with charcoal black irises, a ruddy-pink nose with a thick, yellow stripe over its snout, and long, oblong-shaped black ears. The lower half from the lower back was black in color, excluding the hind legs (which were orange) and from the rear end, was a coiled tail with a ruddy-red bauble-like ornament extending out from it.

"_Koba!"_ exclaimed the Fire Pig Pokémon.

Tepig inhaled and let out fiery red embers from its snout, giving note that it was in very good health. For Cheren, it was a good Pokémon…but not of his preference to pick as a Starter Pokémon. For Bel…there was only one word that could describe the Fire Pig…

"Cutie~!" squealed Bel.

Tepig heard Bel's outburst and let out another wave of embers from its snout, obviously happy about the compliment. Professor Juniper smiled and took out the next Poké ball, which she threw up in the air like she did previously with Tepig's Poké ball. The Poké ball let out yet another luminous light, only this time, it was a different Pokémon.

"Oshawott, the Sea Otter Pokémon," said Professor Juniper.

Oshawott was a small, bipedal sea otter-like Pokémon with a white, light blue, and dark blue coloration. It had a rounded, spherical white head with small, triangular dark-blue ears to the sides and an oval-shaped, dark orange nose. Its body was a light blue color, save for its arms, which were white, and its feet and plank-shaped tail, which were dark blue. It was currently looking at everyone with its large, dark eyes.

"_Miju!"_ exclaimed Oshawott.

Oshawott looked around with an endearing expression, only to come face to face with Cheren. Seeing Cheren's serious expression startled the Sea Otter Pokémon and caused it to literally jump up a few inches off the floor. As Cheren looked over the timid Oshawott and Bel petted Tepig, Professor Juniper reached in for the last Poké ball. And like the other two before it, the Poké ball was also thrown into the air, only this time, the Pokémon appeared on top of the dresser by the box, instead of on the floor like the other two Starters.

"Snivy, the Grass Snake Pokémon," said Professor Juniper.

Snivy was a reptilian, green-colored Pokémon with a cream-colored underside. It had a yellow stripe running down the length of its back and tail and had markings of the same color around its large, rufous colored eyes. It had a large, palmate leaf with three prongs on the end of its tail. It looked rather…smug.

"_Taaja!"_ said Snivy.

Cheren took an immediate interest in Snivy and walked closer to the Grass Snake Pokémon. And from there began a full two minutes of mutual staring while Bel began to cuddle with Tepig. Professor Juniper looked at the two teens and the Starter Pokémon they had before turning over to Oshawott, who looked rather sad.

"_Miju…"_ it said somberly.

Professor Juniper frowned at Oshawott, having known the Sea Otter Pokémon for quite a while now. It had been waiting eagerly for a Trainer to choose it for once and not Snivy or Tepig, but now that four months have passed with Oshawott having to deal with not being chosen…Professor Juniper couldn't help but feel sorry for the Starter Pokémon. It's been at least a full two months with weekly visits from soon-to-be Trainers and so far, no one has chosen Oshawott as their starter. Oshawott had been the youngest out of the group of Starters (consisting of Oshawott, Tepig, and Snivy) Professor Juniper had at her lab. He had also been the last of the Oshawott she had with her, since her Samurott's breeding, though successful, had only been able to conceive this one little Oshawott.

Professor Juniper had thought this was going to be a problem since a Samurott's mating season was at a set time, usually once a year in warm weather (usually spring). However, this was not the case since the Professor found most Trainers usually preferred to pick the cute Fire Pig Pokémon, Tepig or strong and cool-looking Grass Snake Pokémon, Snivy. It was rather sad…especially since Oshawott understood the last few comments sent at him to a pair of rather arrogant Trainers last week.

Voices began to echo in Oshawott's mind as he remembered the last two Trainers who picked Tepig and Snivy.

"_It's not cute at all!" said the girl Trainer who picked Tepig. "Ugh!"_

Oshawott remembered her disgusted tone as well, which just made him feel even worse. And then when it came to the boy Trainer who had chosen Snivy…

"_It looks stupid," the boy said bluntly. "You must be weak…"_

And seeing that he was once again being ignored for his friends, Oshawott couldn't help but feel lonely. This was it…Snivy and Tepig were no longer going to be there for him when he was down…or when Trainers poked fun at him. They stuck out for him when the other Starters picked on him for being the only Oshawott…and now…they were leaving.

_Drop!_

Oshawott blinked and felt his eyes sting a bit as well as the wet trails of moisture running down his cheeks. It didn't take him long to realize…he was crying. Oshawott sniffed and managed to choke back a sob, he didn't want Tepig, Snivy…and anyone else to notice him at his current state.

And yet, Professor Juniper noticed. She frowned at the Oshawott she affectionately nicknamed Ren as a way to cheer him up during those times he was ignored by other Trainers. She hoped that the third Trainer she was currently waiting for would be content with having the last of the Starter Pokémon; otherwise, she'd had to call a neighboring friend to help with providing a Snivy or Tepig. She hoped not…otherwise, Ren would never recover from the repetitive rejections.

* * *

_Snip! Snip!_

A boy was trimming his hair. His brown hair was very short, barely touching the nape of his neck. A small creak from the movement of the bathroom door as well as the movement reflected back in the mirror caught the boy's attention. He stopped in mid-snip, his left hand extending the lock of hair he wanted cut.

He stared into the mirror, noticing the long, brown-haired lady in the reflection before using one, swift and last motion to snip off another lock of hair. With that, he lowered the scissors into the sink and turned around to face the lady.

The lady wore a simple outfit consisting of a long-sleeved, white shirt with a modest skirt the color of her blue eyes. Her hair was a lighter shade of brown than the boy's hair and was longer and wavy in a fluffy-like manner. She wore a light, blue headband in her hair (which was tied into a simple ponytail) and in her hands, was a red and white baseball cap with a black, slightly curved brim and an insignia resembling what seemed to be a Poké Ball.

This lady…was the boy's mother, Monta (1), and much like him; she wore an expression similar to his, though…hers held a rather somber tone and her eyes were very much filled with concern. After a few moments of silence, in which both mother and son stared at each other, one finally spoke.

"Are you sure you want to go through this?" Monta asked, earning a solemn nod from her son. She sighed and replied, "Very well…Touya, but before you go…here."

Monta walked over to Touya and placed the red baseball cap on his head. After a few adjustments, Monta began to look over Touya.

Touya was rather short for a boy his age and was also slim as well. He wore a light and dark blue jacket with white trimmings on the zipper and a pair of black pants with a silver-buckled belt around his waist. Around his neck, he wore a silver chain with a heart-shaped pendant. The pendant had a black and white gem embedded into the center of it, giving the embedment a design of yin and yang (2).

Monta looked over Touya one more time before nodding once and letting her son go. She sighed when her gaze focused on the baseball cap Touya wore.

"It's a perfect fit…more or less," she said.

"Hmm…" was all Touya said.

"Professor Juniper is already in your room as are Cheren and Bel," said Monta. "It's best you don't keep them waiting…"

"…" Touya pulled his cap's brim over his eyes and said nothing.

Monta frowned and walked away, leaving her son to himself as she went to pack up his provisions and such for his journey. After a few seconds, Touya sighed and walked into the hallway. He slowly walked towards his room, his hands inside his pockets. He might as well get to his room so he could pick his Starter Pokémon…without it, he could never get anything done.

"_Miju…"_ whimpered a voice.

Touya stopped in his tracks in front of the door to his room and looked down to his side. Sitting next to the door, was a blue and white otter-like Pokémon. It was an Oshawott…and it was crying. Earlier, Oshawott had managed to sneak out of the room unnoticed, to cry.

Touya stared at Oshawott, finding something familiar about the Pokémon, but he couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was. The Oshawott continued crying, making Touya frown. He turned away from the Oshawott and opened the door a bit, making sure as if not to disturb the crying Pokémon.

Inside his room, he could already see how happy Cheren and Bel were with their Snivy and Tepig (respectively). Professor Juniper handed them their Poké balls, giving the two ownership of their recently obtained Starter Pokémon.

Touya felt somewhat disappointed as he didn't get a chance to choose the Starter of his choice. However, the fact that Oshawott hadn't been chosen, pleased him. Oshawott…that's what he liked…

Touya looked down at the crying Oshawott and stared at him for a full minute. They were alike… In a sense, they both actually seemed…very alone. There was something else about Oshawott that made Touya feel closer to the Pokémon, but he couldn't figure it out. Touya crouched down to the Oshawott's eyelevel to get a better look at the Pokémon.

The dull light in his eyes seemed to brighten up as he looked right at Oshawott. Touya's smile widened slightly as he caught the Sea Otter Pokémon's attention. Touya felt a small kinship with Oshawott. They were both alone…but that would change right now. Touya would make sure of that.

"Hi…" he said.

Oshawott sniffed a bit as he stared at Touya. That smile…it was the first smile Oshawott had seen a Trainer had ever give him in…well, actually, it's a first.

"_Miju?"_ questioned Oshawott.

Touya closed his eyes and his smile widened even more, feeling quite happy for once. It was a feeling so foreign to him by now, but it made Touya feel…warm. He placed his hand on top of Oshawott's head and patted it a few times in an affectionate manner.

"We're wearing the same colors," he said.

Oshawott blinked and looked at Touya and then back at himself. The boy had been right…both had indeed been wearing the same colors…or in this case, for Oshawott. The boy had worn clothes the same color as his fur.

"Isn't it cool? I bet we'll be great friends, right?"

Oshawott looked down as he thought, **"Yeah, I guess it's cool—wait, what?"**

Oshawott's head snapped up at Touya as if to see if the boy hadn't been deluding him…he wasn't. He was very much telling the truth, his eyes enlightening Oshawott notice. Suddenly, he did something Oshawott had been waiting to see happen…

Touya held out his hand, his smile never once ceasing, as he looked at Oshawott.

"Will you be my partner?" Touya asked, looking endearingly at Oshawott.

Oshawott looked at Touya, smiling widely at him seconds after. Oshawott's wide smile revealed the pair of fangs he had that were usually hidden when he had his mouth closed. Touya couldn't help but say, "Cute" at the sight of them, making Oshawott blush slightly. After a few seconds, Touya spoke again…

"Well, you want to be my partner?" he asked once more.

Oshawott replied with a happy and content, _"Mi~!"_

Somehow, as if through the newly made bond of some sort, Touya could've sworn he heard Oshawott say, "Yes!"

Smiling at the Sea Otter Pokémon, Touya picked up his new friend and stood up straight, feeling happy with the fact that he now had his Starter Pokémon. Touya had been having second thoughts about today, but after meeting Oshawott, Touya was firm on becoming a Trainer.

Professor Juniper was a bit surprised to see Touya walk in with Oshawott in his arms. It wasn't Oshawott that surprised her, but Touya himself. She was a bit dumbstruck with how Touya looked and had difficulty saying anything.

"Touya…please remember," he said.

Professor Juniper blinked and nodded. She remembered the deal she made for Touya that she was able to pull a few strings for him. Bel and Cheren knew of it, as did Monta, Professor Juniper's older sister. Though, even so, Bel and Cheren stared at Touya as if they'd seen a ghost.

"Touya?" Bel said hesitantly.

Touya looked at Bel and saw the Tepig in her arms. He smiled and nodded. Cheren huffed slightly and turned his head away, his Snivy looking at him curiously from on top of his shoulder.

Professor Juniper looked at Oshawott and smiled at how happy he looked for once. "Well, Ren…looks like you finally have your partner."

Touya looked questioningly at the Professor. "'Ren'?"

Professor Juniper waved her hand. "It's a nickname I gave to Oshawott…you could change it if you want to."

Touya blinked a few times and smiled. "That's okay…Ren is a good name. Isn't that right…Ren?"

Oshawott blinked and smiled as he nodded. "_Miju!"_

Professor Juniper smiled and looked at the three teenagers she's known since they were just babies… There were so many memories she could remembered, the good…and the bad…

After giving her regards, Professor Juniper began to make her way out of Touya's room. Some moments of silence later, Bel finally spoke, her tone very cheery and ecstatic, to both Touya and Cheren.

"Heyyy!" said Bel. "Since everyone's chosen their own Pokémon…let's have a Pokémon battle!"

Cheren looked at Bel questioningly and pushed up his glasses. "…Uh, Bel? Our Pokémon are still weak. And there's no sense in battling indoors! Especially in Touya's room…"

Touya looked at Cheren and replied, "I really don't mind."

Cheren looked at Touya; aggravated with how Touya wasn't getting the point he was trying to make to Bel. _"Now there's no stopping Bel! Great…"_

"Gosh, it's fiiiiiine!" Bel exclaimed. "Touya says it's okay, and also! Like you said, still weak, right?"

Cheren immediately resented ever calling their Pokémon weak. Because of that, his Snivy was now glaring at him. Well, that was a good first impression he made on his Starter…

"Fuck my life…" Cheren muttered.

Bel continued on. "We gotta raise 'em somehow. Thus and thus…Touya! Let's start out with a Pokémon battle! Are you ready, eh…eh…hold on!"

Bel looked at her Tepig for a few seconds. She had forgotten to ask Professor Juniper something…oh, well! She could do it herself!

"I gotta give you a name…now what gender are you?" Bel asked as she lifted her Tepig and held it up, facing away from her.

At what seemed to be very embarrassing for Tepig and awkward for Cheren and Touya, as well as their Pokémon, Bel managed to figure out her Pokémon's confirmed gender.

"I shall name you…Akane!" exclaimed Bel. "Sorry about that, but I needed to know your gender first before I could give you a name…"

Tepig's face held a slight change in color as it looked up at Bel, obviously blushing. Despite its previous embarrassment, Tepig took a liking to the name. And now, for Akane's gender confirmation…

"Akane's female, isn't she?" Cheren asked, his attention focused on Bel.

Bel looked at Cheren with a look that said, "No crap."

"Let me guess, _Ranma ½_?" Cheren waited for Bel's response.

Bel looked at Cheren and immediately said, "How did you know?"

That was his cue to explain. Cheren adjusted his glasses and began his explanation. "Tepig's type changes to fire-fighting when it evolves…And if you read the series…then you'd pretty much get why you'd name Tepig after Akane Tendo... Never did like Akane, too tsundere form my liking..."

Bel looked blankly at Cheren before blurting out, "But I thought you didn't like the series and never bothered reading it!"

Cheren narrowed his eyes at Bel. "I never exactly said that…you just assumed because I rarely read manga…Well, I read the series…after tutoring you because you failed your midterm. All due to you blowing off studying since you were too busy finishing reading the last four volumes!"

Bel's face flushed up in embarrassment. He actually remembered that…that was like! "But that was in middle school! How could you still remember?"

Touya, feeling a bit out of place in between the two currently arguing friends, decided to walk away since he was _literally_ caught in between them. Cue a remark from Cheren in 3…2…1…

"It was a year ago when we were still in grade eight and we're still in middle school!" Cheren exclaimed. (3) "Yeah, I remember…"

Bel just stared at Cheren for a few seconds before deciding to change the subject by asking, "So what's your Pokémon's gender?"

Cheren blinked and looked at his Snivy, who looked back at him. An awkward moment of silence ensued between Trainer and Pokémon. Afterwards, Cheren looked at Bel and pushed his glasses up.

"If you think that's going to get me to change the subject…" Cheren began. "Then it worked."

Bel pumped her fist into the air with a quick, "Yes!"

Cheren's eye twitched slightly as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. Sometimes, he wondered how he'd ever put up with Bel. And speaking of his Pokémon's gender…the Grass _Snake_ Pokémon, is that what it is?

"_Well, that just made confirming your gender slightly harder…"_ Cheren thought. _"I'm just gonna go along with any gender and call it Daichi…"_

"So, what's his name?" Bel asked as she looked curiously at Cheren.

"Daichi," he answered.

Bel looked at Cheren's Snivy, the newly named Daichi. "So…he _is_ a guy? How do you know?"

Cheren crossed his arms and replied, "I don't…I'm just letting nature choose its course and—"

Bel blinked and interrupted. "So, you're bullshitting it with the gender being male until otherwise, right?"

"Exactly…" Cheren replied with a nod. "Also…aren't you forgetting something?"

Bel blinked and looked over at Touya, who was sitting on his bed with Ren in his arms. His expression was blank, though the look in his eye gave note that he was amused by the conversation between Cheren and Bel.

"Oh, right!" she said, slightly flustered. "I forgot about you…sorry!"

Touya just stayed silent and tightened his embrace on Ren. Bel looked nervously at him as she tried to remember what she was going to do before she and Cheren ended up getting off subject.

"That's right!" said Bel. "A Pokémon battle…you, me…my Tepig against your Oshawott…you in?"

Touya looked at Bel and gave her a small smile. He then stood up and lowered Ren onto the ground whilst Bel's Tepig, Akane, jumped out of her arms. Cheren sighed and crossed his arms as and despite being against it at first…he couldn't help but smile. Once Bel and Touya had made up their mind, there was no stopping them. And aside from that…

"_This might be a good time to analyze their battling strategies,"_ thought Cheren.

Because losing to a girl who usually slept through lectures during school was unacceptable…so was losing to a new Trainer who had a starter with a disadvantage towards yours, despite having knowledge of previous well-known Trainers who have done so.

…

Bel and Touya stared down at each other; the look in their eyes intense. Their Pokémon, Ren and Akane, mimicked their Trainers with the stare…only theirs was much more intense and also closer…and had a crackling stream of lightning arcing back and forth between their eyes.

Cheren could not help but sweat drop…

"What's with the intense stares?" he asked, shaking his head afterwards. "Okay, that's it…battle start!"

And surprisingly, Bel and Touya listened to Cheren as they backed away to give their Pokémon distance…that's a first. Both of Cheren's friends usually ignore him since it was their nature to ignore every smart thing that came out of his mouth…and now that he realized it, it made sense. What he said, was not smart…it was stupid as he just declared the battle start in Touya's room…the battle between a fire-type and a water-type…in Touya's room…right by the TV and the _Wii_…in Touya's room…did I forget to mention _in_ Touya's _room_?

"Akane, use…uh…uh…" Bel said, beginning to stutter as she forgot one thing…she didn't know what move set her Tepig had at this point. Since this was Bel, there was one thing she usually did in situations like this…call out an attack and hope it hits (that's _if_ Tepig knew the move). "Use ember!"

Cheren sighed in dismay, about ready to reprimand Bel's lack of knowledge of Starter Pokémon, seeing as Tepig didn't know ember…yet. However, just as he was about to speak, Akane made him shut up when she let out fiery embers at Ren, who dodged on reflex. That's right…Akane already demonstrated that fact earlier…but still…

"Isn't Akane's move set a little high for her standard as a Starter Pokémon?" asked Cheren.

Bel closed her eyes and threw her fist into the air as she wailed, "Don't ruin my fun, dang it!"

Cheren blinked and nodded, earning a rather smug looked from Daichi…who smirked. He was laughing at him! His own Pokémon…

"_Great…he still hates me,"_ thought Cheren.

Daichi didn't really hate Cheren. He was just enjoying the irritation Bel brought onto the boy. It was very amusing since the Snivy rarely saw anything worth calling entertainment aside from watching Professor Juniper's Minccino use Oshawott as target practice for Bullet Seed. Yeah…it was really more like training for Ren since his reflex on deflecting attacks with his shell were a little slow…this training actually did wonders with speeding up his reaction time. Though, it went to waste due to Ren's timidity.

* * *

Meanwhile, downstairs,

Monta was currently packing a satchel and backpack full of items she thought her son would need on his journey. The following items inside the backpack was a set of clean clothes, undergarments, a sleeping bag and tent, cooking utensils…and more things that made a person who didn't live in the Pokémon world begin to wonder about the laws of physics. (4)

Suddenly, a loud, booming noise, followed by the sounds of cries caught the attention of Monta. Monta stopped packing and turned her head towards the stairs as she wondered…

"What's going on?" she said aloud.

And in the next few moments, Monta winced at every loud noise she heard.

BOOM!

"Yaaah!" screamed Bel.

CRASH!

"Bel, watch out for the TV!" exclaimed Cheren.

"Sorry!" Bel apologized.

Monta had a feeling she was going to be picking up after her son's friends…ah, well. It didn't really matter, seeing as, after hearing from Professor Juniper, Touya actually had managed to show some change in emotion. And it has actually been a while since he's done that…especially after…

Monta blinked and shook her head. "No…now's not the time to think about that—"

CRASH!

"That better not be the TV…"

* * *

Back in Touya's room,

"_Miju!"_ whimpered Ren.

Touya looked questioningly at Ren, having noticed his distress. Blinking a bit, Touya nodded and decided that now was a good time as any to attack.

"Water gun…" he said, having learned earlier that his Oshawott's move set was as high as Bel's Tepig.

Ren huffed in and shot out a spiral of water from his mouth, aimed at Akane. Akane looked nervously at the stream of water heading straight towards her. She was a fire-type…water was not her thing, in fact; it was a weakness that she hated.

"Dodge!" Bel quickly said. "Then use ember!"

Akane took heed of Bel's order and quickly scampered out of the way, just in time, too, as the water gun hit the floor rather forcefully. That would've hurt…

"_Koba…"_ Akane mushroom sighed in relief. Then, feeling slightly enraged (and remembering that she had a move to initiate), she let out yet another stream of embers from her snout at Ren…only this time, she didn't give the water-type anytime to dodge.

Ren braced himself as the embers jetted over his body. It was painful, but not that painful, but it was still pain! And what's worse…he got burned…ouch…

"_Miju!"_ yelled Ren.

Bel grinned ecstatically as she pumped her fist into the air, her Tepig mimicking her Trainer's actions in a different way by letting out a bright stream of embers from her snout.

"All right!" said Bel. "You may have had the advantage in type, but that does not matter! As long as I have Akane…we're unbeatable!"

Akane complied with this statement by lightly stomping her left forefoot onto the floor. As the duo cheered on for their first victory hit (which is what they call it…deal with it!), Touya stayed calm and waited for the embers engulfing Ren to wane slightly. Once this was done, Touya smiled and ordered Ren to run towards Akane to initiate a tackle attack.

"Huh?" said Bel. "What're you up to…Akane! Move to the side."

Akane nodded and quickly moved to the side, avoiding the attack Ren was going to conduct using force… However, that is exactly what Touya wanted to happen as tackle was only a distraction.

"Ren, use water gun!" Touya said, grinning a bit.

Ren inhaled deeply and let out a forceful stream of water at Akane, whom, having been focused on dodging only the first hit, was caught by surprise at Ren's quick retaliation to her dodging. And man, was that water cold…and forceful!

_"Poka!" _yelled Akane.

Despite hating water, Akane was stubborn…up to the point where she resented it, but that didn't matter! She was _so_ not in for losing! Because losing was unacceptable…or at least to her, it is so that she decided to try the best thing at this current moment, fend off water gun. It worked for a bit, though inch-by-inch, water gun began to push Akane back a little. Bel began to stutter as she watched Akane struggle to keep in place.

"Wah!" yelped Bel. "Hang in there, Tepig!"

Akane gritted her teeth and closed her eyes shut to avoid getting water in her eyes.

"_Koba…"_ she strained.

Bel bit her lip and looked at Touya's Oshawott. He was beginning to show signs of fatigue, no doubt from his excessive use of water gun without break. Just a little more…just a few more minutes…

"Akane, don't give up!" said Bel. "We almost have him stumped!"

"_Poka, poka…"_ Akane muttered, which is translation for…_**"Easy for you to say, you're not the one getting hit with water…"**_

Ren was beginning to falter with his water gun, but he kept his hold. The boy still hasn't said anything, so Ren was beginning to wonder if he gave up on him…

"Stay strong, Ren…you can do it," said Touya.

Ren blinked, slightly stunned at what his Trainer was telling him to do. Feeling pepped up a bit, Ren furrowed his brow and increased the pressure of his water gun. This took Akane by surprised as it sent her back at a surprisingly increasing distance until the Fire Pig couldn't resist anymore. Akane lost her footing not long after and was sent into the air, heading straight towards her Trainer.

"Oh, no!" exclaimed Bel. "Wah!"

"_Koba!"_ yelled Akane.

Cheren blinked and winced as Akane slammed into Bel, both Trainer and Pokémon sent back into the wall with a 'thud'.

THUD!

Bel was now on the floor, her back pressed against the wall as she sat down, dazed as little Ducklett ran around her head in a circle. Her eyes were pretty much spirals as she stared out randomly into space, groaning, as she held onto her Pokémon in her lap.

"Wah…" she said, shaking her head afterwards to snap out of her daze. She looked up at Touya and scowled. "Yaaah! That HUUURT! I'm not letting you do THAT again!"

Touya blinked as Ren jumped into his arms, smiling a bit at Bel, having heard her remark. Cheren sighed and shook his head as he pointed at Bel.

"Uh, Bel…?" said Cheren. "Your…"

Bel looked questioningly at Cheren and looked down, groaning afterwards. "Aw, man!"

Akane was knocked out and unable to battle…in other words, she fainted. The spirals in her eyes giving note of that, as well as her weary, _"Koba, koba…"_

"Akane!" exclaimed Bel. "Are you okay?"

Akane snapped out of it and shook her head a few times before looking at Bel with an awkward smile. "_Koba…"_

Bel smiled and gently hugged her Tepig. "It's okay! Regardless of what you did, we DID do our best, okay?"

Akane nodded her head in agreement, earning a wide smile from Bel. Bel wiped her forehead with her hand and looked at Touya.

"You sure are gonna be an awesome Trainer, aren't you?" she asked Touya. "Well, that's how I feel…anyways, as of now, we are rivals!"

Touya smiled at Bel and looked at Ren, who was actually rather pleased with his current victory. "You did well."

Ren blinked and blushed slightly, causing Touya to chuckle. Cheren and Bel looked perplexed at Touya. That was the first time in about six months since they heard Touya _ever_ laugh…and it's been quite a while since they heard a _real_ laugh from Touya and not a fake one.

Cheren then began to wonder if Touya was really back…well, the only to find out is see what his reaction would be at seeing his room's current state.

"Uh, Bel…you might want to take a look around," said Cheren. "You too, Touya…"

With that, Cheren patiently awaited the reactions he got from Touya and Bel. Bel looked nervously at the room. The whole place was messed up! The large, fuchsia-colored rug beneath them was covered in soot and footprints, as well as moist from Ren's water gun.

Touya's bed, which was previously neatly made, was now messed up with the blankets on the floor and the covers wrinkled up. Touya's dresser was moved out of place and was partly on the desktop where Touya's laptop resided. Books were strewn around onto the floor after the bookshelf was pushed over; the TV was still intact, but not settled in its previous spot. Surprisingly, the _Wii_ was the only thing that managed to escape with nothing whatsoever on it…

"WAAAH!" yelled Bel. "W-what's all this about? How the hell did footprints get on the walls and the…the _walls_…and…aagh!"

Bel pulled down her hat a bit in a way to adjust it. She looked awkwardly at Touya, who was just looking at his room, agape.

"My room…" he uttered.

Bel laughed awkwardly and replied, "Uh…Pokémon are MINDBLOWING! Aren't they? Ehehe…and to think, they're so dinky…"

Cheren looked at Touya, feeling slightly disappointed…though a bit worried on how he would react, seeing as he was armed with an Oshawott that knew water gun…

"Uh, Bel…I think we should leave…" said Cheren.

Bel looked at Cheren and said, "Yeah, we really should…and I think Daichi left without you."

Cheren looked perplexed at Bel before realizing that the airhead was right! Daichi left without him… "That prick…"

"Hey!" Bel snapped. "He was just doing what he thought would be the best thing to do! I mean, don't call him names, that's mean! And plain wrong, and we are a team, we do it together, and—"

"Then why is Akane leaving without you?" Cheren asked as he directed Bel to her Tepig.

Bel blinked and turned to see her Tepig dashing out of the room. Enraged, Bel exclaimed, "Get back here, you no good Fire Pig! How dare you leave without me!"

With that, Bel scampered after Akane, not caring once that she was actually on all fours. That just left Cheren, Touya, and Ren inside the trashed up room and an awkward silence between them.

…

Cheren cleared his throat and took one last look at Touya. "Well…gotta go!"

And with that, Cheren calmly walked out of the room before breaking into a run as he went down the stairs. He ended up slipping half-way down and tumbled down the rest of the way onto Bel, who was already at the bottom of the stairs in a daze (from falling down the stairs). This meant pain for both of them…

As for Daichi and Akane, Cheren and Bel's no good Pokémon who had ditched their Trainers…

Monta stood in front of the stove in the kitchen wearing a white, lacy apron. Heating over the stove was a pot filled with boiling miso soup, which Monta was currently stirring in a constant pace with a ladle. Currently on the top of the kitchen counter, were Akane and Daichi, the latter having been helping Monta for quite a while now. Monta picked up a small saucer and scooped a bit of the miso soup that was cooking and poured the soup into the saucer. She brought up the small saucer close to her mouth and blew on it for a few seconds before taking a sip. After determining the taste of the miso soup, Monta decided to get an opinion from Daichi and Akane.

Both Pokémon got a taste of what Monta was cooking and much to Monta's delight, they actually enjoyed the sample.

"_Koba…" _Akane said, her eyes sparkling in awe.

"_Taaja…"_ Daichi said, savoring the flavor.

Monta smiled and looked over at the Pokémon's dazed Trainers by the stairs. Their state and position looked rather painful, but that's what they get for running down the stairs.

"They never do learn…" Monta sighed. "So…I take it, you two are staying for lunch?"

Akane and Daichi nodded eagerly in agreement.

* * *

Meanwhile with Touya,

Touya looked at his room agape, still in the same position he was in the past…three minutes. After that…

"You messed up my room!" Touya exclaimed.

Ren covered his ears, seeing as his Trainer wasn't exactly quiet anymore…but that was good…was it? It looked like it. He assumed since, from the looks on his Trainer's friends' faces with how surprised they looked at hearing their friend laugh, Touya was a very quiet person.

"_Miju…"_ said Ren.

Touya looked around, stuttering a few times at the footprints on his wall…his wall…

"How the heck did footprints get on the wall?" exclaimed Touya. "It's just…the wall! And the ceiling…wha? I don't even…the ceiling! It's even on the _ceiling_!"

Ren couldn't help but laugh a bit at his Trainer's reaction. He definitely didn't regret saying yes to his offer, seeing as he wasn't alone anymore…and neither was he, his Trainer.

Sometime later after enjoying a delicious lunch consisting of miso soup and rice balls,

Touya, Cheren, and Bel walked out of the house with their Pokémon, all of them content with the lunch Monta provided for them. Everything involving the trashed room was forgotten as Monta told them to leave that to her…well, everything except the part about the footprints on the wall seeing as how in world did Tepig and Oshawott get footprints on the wall? They only ran on the wall once…but _still_! And then there was the ceiling…Monta decided to just let it be and just clean up.

The trio was heading towards Professor Juniper's lab to give the professor their thanks on providing their Pokémon. So at the current moment, they were walking down the road into the forest leading towards the laboratory since the location was at the outskirts of Nuvema Town. The trio had already decided that tomorrow…or depending on how antsy Bel got…past midnight at 02:30 in the morning…they would leave Nuvema Town. But first…to the lab!

"Oh, hold on!" said Bel.

Cheren and Touya looked at each other and sighed. Wait to go, Bel…she's delaying their gratitude to Professor Juniper.

"I've got to go home for a sec…" said Bel. "I won't take long!"

Without even letting Touya or Cheren reply, Bel picked up the pace and ran into the direction opposite of where she was heading previously. Though, she forgot one little thing…

"_Koba!"_ yelled Akane.

Akane trailed after Bel at a remarkably fast speed…almost matching Bel's current one. It was there, that both Cheren and Touya couldn't help but agree that Bel chose the perfect Starter Pokémon that actually suited her personality and habits.

"Should we wait for her?" Cheren asked Touya.

Touya stayed silent and looked at his Oshawott, who was currently sitting on top of his shoulder. Cheren sighed and said, "Screw it…one of us is going to go after her…"

Touya sighed and got the memo. By one of us, Cheren meant _him_…that jerk. Adjusting his cap a bit and making sure Ren had a good grip on him, Touya dashed into the direction Bel went, leaving Cheren alone with Daichi.

"So…you up for battling the otter?" asked Cheren.

Daichi looked up at Cheren and smirked.

"I'll take that as a yes," said Cheren. "Well, we're slightly off to a good start."

Daichi sneered and turned away from Cheren, causing him to sweat drop. So much for trying to get along…

"_Taaja,"_ said Daichi.

And never mind…Cheren really needed to stop making assumptions. Daichi only acted that way towards Cheren because that was his nature. Somehow, Cheren felt a bit of a connection with Daichi…it was a small one, but that was enough for Cheren to feel a bond between him and Daichi.

"This might be the start of a beautiful friendship," said Cheren. "What do you think?"

Daichi crossed his arms and looked up at Cheren with a small grin. "_Tsut…"_

Cheren adjusted his glasses and smiled. "Glad to be of your acquaintance, then. We'll make it work, won't we?"

Daichi closed his eyes and shrugged. _**"Beats me…"**_

* * *

Back in Nuvema Town,

Touya slowed down his pace and looked around for Bel…well, more specifically, her house since that's where she said she was going to be. Now let's see…

"Take a left…one right and another left…" said Touya. "Here we are."

Ren looked curiously at the house he and Touya stood in front of. It was just your average two-story house, much like Touya's, only this one seemed a bit more…colorful in design. Well, that definitely was Bel's house. About a few years back, she and her dad gave their house a new paint job and well… Bel got a little carried away with the paint.

Anyways, the point was that this was definitely Bel's house…and by the looks of the open gate Touya just walked through, followed by the fact that the front door was open partway…Bel was (still is) here. Touya nodded and walked towards the door and just as he was about to knock, a loud, booming voice from inside the house stopped the boy in his tracks.

"No, _no_, and _**NO**_!" yelled a deep voice.

Touya rubbed his ears and looked at Ren, who was doing the same. Damn, whoever was yelling inside had a _very_ loud voice.

"But, I…" said a second voice.

Touya blinked as he immediately recognized the second voice as Bel's. Rather than barge into the house, Touya carefully peered into the partway-opened door. No sense in getting into the current situation Bel was in. That was just stupid and not to mention, rather rude. Inside, Touya saw Bel currently confronting an older, brown-haired man who seemed very mad.

That man was Bel's father, whom anyone, who had known Bel for a while, could say that the blonde had inherited her father's loud voice. The same could go for persistency and the stubborn streak both father and daughter seemed to share. As for resemblance, Bel took after her mother, who was a rather kind lady and…a bit of an airhead at times. The resemblance between Bel and her mother was striking and there was no doubt about that, unlike the resemblance (or lack thereof) Bel and her father had.

Anyhow, what seemed to be going on had Bel's mother looking rather concerned at her daughter and husband. Bel currently had on her usual green satchel over her shoulder with Akane in her arms and on her back, was a spring green backpack. Once again, assuming from the look on Bel's father's face, he didn't like the look of this.

"No!" yelled Bel's father.

Bel frowned and looked at her Pokémon, her expression quickly changing into that of determination. "Dad, listen! I got a Pokémon, and I'll be a great Trainer, watch! I can totally so go on an adventure!"

Bel's father looked angrily at Bel. When he saw her look at the door, he said in a rather dark tone, "Don't you even think of going out that door!"

Bel huffed and looked away from her father as she made her way towards the door.

"Watch me!" Bel exclaimed, making sure as to stomp on the floor for a good measure to say that she wasn't going to put up with her father anymore. "Good bye!"

"Bel!" yelled her father.

Bel ignored her father and walked out the door, closing it behind her with a loud, "I said, 'Good bye'!"

SLAM!

With that, Bel turned to Touya and stared at him sternly. "What do you want?"

Touya held up his hands in front of himself in his defense. Ren just lifted up Touya's cap and used it to cover his face from Bel's stern stare. It was rather scary… Even Akane was scared of Bel's stare and wanted to hide from her, but seeing as the blonde had a good grip on her, the Fire Pig Pokémon did the second best thing she could come up with: Hide in her Trainer's orange vest. This caused Bel to cease her stern stare as she noticed the distress and fear she caused her Pokémon and friends. She frowned and let out a rather depressed sigh as she awkwardly scratched the side of her face with her right index finger.

"Gosh…I'm sorry about that," Bel apologized. "Could we…could we get back to, you know? Professor Juniper's lab…Cheren's waiting for us, no doubt."

Touya blinked and nodded as Bel adjusted her hat a bit.

A few moments later,

Touya and Bel walked side by side towards the direction leading to Professor Juniper's laboratory. An awkward silence ensued between them concerning the events that happened…earlier.

"Bel…you, okay?" Touya asked, wanting to break the silence.

Bel turned to Touya and smiled at him reassuringly.

"It's alright," Bel reassured, making Touya arch his brow at her. "…Like, really!"

"Bel…" Touya said in a somewhat stern voice. "What is it this time?"

By this time, Touya meant that this wasn't the first time this happened. He remembered always having to go into the forest for Bel when she ran out to avoid her father after an argument. Man, those memories…

Bel tightened her hold on Akane slightly as she winced at the stern tone Touya spoke to her in.

"Okay…it's like this," said Bel. "This journey that my father doesn't want me going…it's my only chance. It's the only chance I have to prove my father that I'm not hopelessly naïve!"

Touya looked at Bel, whom went through a sudden change in expression as she was now determined to do just about anything. Bel tightened her fist and huffed a bit.

"I want to show my father that I can take care of myself!" said Bel. "I can't do that if I stay home, so…I'm leaving Nuvema Town."

Touya looked concerned at Bel. "For how long?"

Bel shrugged and replied, "Who knows? It might take weeks, months…a year, even, until I come back here."

"When?" asked Touya.

Bel pointed at her satchel and backpack. "I'm already packed and I got at least ten-thousand Pokédollars on me…so, maybe today."

Touya latched onto Bel's arm and looked at her. "Don't go, yet!"

Bel looked perplexed at Touya; it's been quite a while since she's seen him worry about something. She frowned at him. "I have to…unless you want me to crash at your house for the night?"

Touya thought about it and shook his head. There was no way he was letting Bel sleep in his house…that's one of the first places her father would check for Bel. Maybe it would be best if…

"Hold on…" said Touya. "I got an idea…"

Bel looked curiously at Touya, wondering what his idea was. After listening to it, she actually thought it was great. The idea consisted of Touya going to his house to grab his items, seeing as by now, Monta would have already finished packing for him. And as for Bel…she was going to pay Cheren's house a little visit, and seeing as she knew Cheren, his things were already packed and ready in his room. All she needed to do was to grab them and tell Cheren's parents that he'll talk about it later via X-Transceiver.

Well, it was easier said than done for Bel, since she had trouble carrying her stuff and Cheren's. The same went for Touya, but they managed by distributing who cared which item between them. Bel got the slightly lighter black satchel and Touya got the almost equally heavy backpack.

By the time they reached Cheren, he was actually making his way _back_ to Nuvema Town… Well…

"This just bites…" remarked Bel.

Akane couldn't nod in agreement, seeing as she had to help Ren carry Cheren's satchel, which, by the first few minutes, Touya decided that Bel shouldn't carry Cheren's satchel, seeing as it slightly disrupted her balance.

"_Koba, koba…"_ said Akane.

Ren just sighed, _"Miju…"_

Daichi walked over to Ren and Akane, having decided to help them out a bit…though a _bit_. Why? Because he was cool like that.

Touya let out a slightly aggravated sigh. Cheren smirked as bit by bit, it seemed that the old Touya was coming back. The same person they knew…though, before that, he wondered as to _why_ Bel and Touya had his possessions.

"Why do you have my stuff?" asked Cheren.

Touya looked at Bel, who replied with a quiet, "Keep everything you saw and heard a secret! Please…"

Touya blinked and nodded before saying, "We decided that it was best we leave today…"

"You know!" said Bel. "So we can get a head start on leaving Nuvema Town…also, you're going to have to call your parents and explain to them about it via X-Transceiver…"

"Understand?" asked Touya.

Cheren blinked and smiled as he grabbed his satchel from Ren and Akane. Touya handed Cheren back his backpack, which he took.

"Well?" asked Bel.

Cheren placed on his backpack and satchel, adjusted his glasses, and looked at Bel and Touya. "Understood…we leave today."

Daichi walked over to Cheren and pulled on his pant leg. "_Taaja!"_

Cheren looked down at Daichi and nodded. "Fine…let's go, then."

Cheren and Daichi began to walk, but not without calling each other names for the first few moments of their newfound budding friendship.

"Impatient snake," muttered Cheren.

"_Tsuta…"_ Daichi replied back. _**"Bookworm…"**_

"Prick…" Cheren retorted.

"_Taaja…"_ Daichi said with a bit of attitude.

Cheren stopped in his steps and looked down at Daichi. "Well, there is no need for that language!"

Daichi just shrugged and both he and Cheren continued to walk on. Touya and Bel looked at each other and smiled. Daichi and Cheren were definitely getting along…no matter what they said about each other. They were just like brothers…

"It's cute, isn't it?" asked Bel.

Touya couldn't help but smile as he bent down to pick up Ren. Akane jumped into Bel's arm and with that, both Trainers followed after Cheren. Surprisingly, what didn't come across to mind to either Trainer was that it was getting easier to understand their Pokémon. Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched.

A young man no older than seventeen years old was watching the group with his gray eyes. He wore a black and white baseball cap and had long, tea green hair drawn back into a ponytail. He wore a white shirt with a black undershirt, green shoes, and tan-colored pants. On his left wrist, he had on three square-shaped ringlets that glittered slightly in the small rays of sunlight. Around his neck, was a black necklace with a black, sphere-shaped blue-ringed pendant and hanging on his hip was a yellow cube in the first iteration of a Menger sponge. (5)

He had just been venturing about, wanting to become familiar with his surroundings when he spotted Touya, Cheren, and Bel and their Pokémon. Their Pokémon were the main focus of his attention, since they seemed so happy and yet, they seemed to have just met their Trainers. Why was that?

It seemed oddly strange, especially after hearing what his father usually told him about humans and Pokémon. Then there were his friends, the Pokémon… He needed to investigate this some more to see if he was just imagining things, or if it was really the real thing. Though, to do that, he had to ask their Pokémon, first.

Looking back as he continued to walk after the trio, the young man smiled a bit as he saw his Tepig following after. Tepig was rather pleased and content, having spent quite a while in the past month with the young man. In fact, it's been only a month since both human and Pokémon have actually met.

Even so, their bond was rather strong, but for the young man…to him, it felt rather fragile and forced. Like the only thing actually keeping his Tepig with him, was the Poké ball the young man kept in his pocket. It made him wonder…would his Tepig stay…would his Tepig stay if that Poké ball he had wasn't there or existed at all?

"_Koba!"_ exclaimed Tepig.

The young man blinked and looked at his Tepig. The Fire Pig Pokémon was waaay ahead of him in distance… The young man smiled and ran after his Pokémon. As he followed after his Pokémon, he couldn't help but think about the boy and his Oshawott. There was something about the boy that struck him odd.

The look in his eyes…that boy with the Oshawott… Was he okay? The young man sighed and shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking of such irrelevant thoughts. It wasn't his problem…but that still didn't stop him from thinking.

"_If I ever come across him…maybe we should talk…"_ the young man thought. _"Maybe he would understand…"_

The young man smiled and decided to do just that if he ever came across the boy. Maybe he could become N's first human friend.

…

…

* * *

A/N End of chapter and you read that right. If you're confused, go to the second chapter, it explains it there. Any who, let me say one thing…I am NOT dead…I am very much alive. I am getting rid of a muse (which is me writing this story), PSP-less (someone stole it in October, one of the causes of my delayed updates), just got out of the Final exams of hell (I'm free!), and…I've been preoccupied with playing Pokémon Black on my NO$GBA emulator…what? It's fun and it's translated since it's v7! :D *gets shot* Anyways, I've also been taking care of my nephew's goldfish, Jacob…great, now whenever I see Jacob Black from _Twilight_, I'm going to be thinking of a goldfish…and Jacob's the only one I LIKE out of _Twilight_…Ugh…the damn goldfish better not die on me! It's been four days and my nephew's had it since late October…I swear…

7-3-12 Update! The Goldfish is nearly hitting two years now in age! Jacob's been renamed and is now known as Jaws…let me just say, he's a survivor…

7-11-12 Okay, don't be afraid with the sudden disappearance of chapters two through five! It's only temporary! Also, I revamped this chapter again and changed a few things around...made the trio a little younger, but only because I'm firm on keeping N three years older than them and I am not making him eighteen in this fic yet! Also, please excuse any age inconsistencies that might be in this chapter since I might have missed a few when I was editing...

Okay, just to let you guys know:

Bel = Bianca

(1) Monta is the name of the Pokémon Black and White character in the manga…no, not the _Pokémon Adventures_ manga, the other one. Yeah, I know Monta's a guy, but really! Touya's mom needed a name and Monta was the first thing I got in mind! So deal with it! DX

(2) Black and White = Yin and Yang. A dur…it's obvious since that's what Pokémon Black and White is based on and the pictures are…yeah, you get the point, if not…go to Bulbapedia! The girl and boy are the Trainers in Black and White!

(3) Please note that I am using the Japanese school system, in which middle school goes from grade seven to ninth. Confused? Look it up! I did…

(4) Just don't ask, because Pokemon seems to love defying the laws of physics...

(5) Got that info off the trivia on N's page on the Bulbapedia…yeah, it's there!

Anyways, NO FLAMES! Constructive criticism is always welcomed…emphasis on welcomed since I need to know how much I suck and what I need to do to improve my writing so as it doesn't suck. Just don't be rude as in criticizing my story plot for something else. Just say what I need to fix…okay? As in my grammar, spelling…writing style…just don't plain out say you hate it! Tell me why?

Aside from that, I'm not pushing it for reviews, so yeah…also, KD IS BACK! XD


	2. The Festival

Professor Juniper was at her desk, filling out the Trainer cards for her new Trainers. So far…it had been rather tedious…especially when it came to filling out Touya's. That got her thinking…

"_Why is she so persistent on living out his life?"_ Professor Juniper thought to herself. _"I still don't think that this is a good idea…but if it makes her happy…then I guess she can still be Touya."_

The Touya Professor Juniper had met with earlier was actually Touko cross-dressing as him. Touya and Touko were twins, always together previously, but not anymore as of two years ago. Touya had been a rather sickly child and, over the years, his health had declined. That still didn't stop him from having fun, which he usually did with his twin sister, Touko. Though, that just made the day of his death all the more painful…especially to Touko.

Professor Juniper smiled faintly as she remembered the good memories the twins made when they were younger. Always running about in the forest, letting out all the Pokémon in her lab, and, quite possibly, befriending the majority of wild Pokémon in the forest…Professor Juniper didn't know why, but there was always something different about Touya and Touko. There was one thing she knew about, something that everyone else knew as well…

Touya and Touko were inseparable. They even planned out their own journey, which was to be done together. They even made a pact to stay together and make it to the Pokémon League, as brother and sister. Maybe that's why…

"_Maybe that's why Touko's so persistent…"_ the professor thought. _"That pact…"_

They were only five at the time, but Touya and Touko had been firm on it. But now that Touya was gone…there was no pact left to fulfill—so one would think. Touko found a way, but in order to fulfill it, she had to be someone she wasn't. Nothing would convince Touko to stop…

Professor Juniper sighed and took sip of coffee from her mug as she typed in the keys into her computer to enter in the last few alterations to the trio's Trainer cards. On the hindsight, Touko was slowly returning back to her usual self, all thanks to Ren, the one Pokémon that nobody wanted.

"Who would've thought?" Professor Juniper said, grinning. She definitely wasn't complaining…after all, this was the first time she's seen her niece act happy, even if she showed it only a little, for once…

THUD!

"_Looks like they're here…"_ Professor Juniper knew Bel for quite a long time now, so she could tell that it was definitely the aforementioned blonde who ran into her door. The green-eyed blonde always forgot that the door automatically opened up after a few seconds of standing in _front_ of it.

THUD!

And that signified that Bel just fell face-forward onto the floor. Professor Juniper sighed and after a few keystrokes, she pressed a button. The printing machine whirred into and four different colored cards rolled out. And it was just in time as Touya (she might as well respect Touko's wish), Cheren, and Bel walked into view. Professor Juniper grabbed the Trainer cards and turned to face the trio.

"I've been waiting for you, boys and girls!" Professor Juniper said, smiling. (1)

Bel blinked and looked at Touya and Cheren before looking back at the Professor. "Uh…Professor Juniper? By boys and girls, are you referring to Touya, because he's cross-dressing, or Cheren, because he can pass for a girl?"

Cheren looked at Bel with an irritated scowl as Daichi, Akane, and Ren burst into laughter at this. "Hey!"

Professor Juniper smiled and replied, "Yes and no…it's really a force of habit since I had note cards made for this event back when I was still new for this…anyways, my name is—"

"Professor Juniper?" Cheren interrupted the professor. "We already know your name."

Professor Juniper huffed and placed her hands on her hips as she stared at Cheren. "Well! Aren't _you_ so suave, Cheren?"

Cheren's cheeks turned slightly red as he laughed nervously. Professor Juniper waved it off and continued on.

"Today's a day worth commemorating!" said Professor Juniper. "Why, I remember when you guys were just fighting over my little Minccino at age one…ain't that right, Kiyo?"

As if on cue, the Professor's Minccino hopped into view and scampered up the professor's leg until she was sitting on her shoulder. _"Chi!"_

Kiyo nuzzled Professor Juniper's cheek affectionately, causing the professor to laugh.

"Anyways, as I was saying," said Professor Juniper. "Today's a day worth commemorating! So make sure you stand up straight, huh?"

Cheren, Touya, and Bel nodded along in agreement.

"Now then, back to my introduction…" Professor Juniper continued on. "My name is Juniper Araragi…call me Juniper! Araragi is my father…I'm serious on that, I don't want any mix-ups with our names… Anyways, I investigate when exactly the creatures we know as Pokémon were born!" (1)

"With pride?" asked Cheren.

Professor Juniper nodded. "Damn straight! Been doing this my whole life!"

…

…

"You need to get a real life," Cheren remarked.

Professor Juniper twitched. "What was that? Is that a request to revoke your license I hear?"

Cheren stuttered. "No!"

"That's what I thought," Professor Juniper said smugly. "Now let me take a look at your Pokémon…"

Juniper walked over to the starter trio on the floor and took a close look at them. Ren and Akane were currently getting along, despite their recently formed rivalry. It was mostly because the two weren't put against each other in a rival battle against their Trainers. As for Daichi, nothing out of the ordinary seemed wrong!

"Ah, magnificent!" said the Professor. "You've already had some Pokémon battles, I see. Could that mean your Pokémon have already begun putting their trust in you…?"

Akane and Ren nodded as they moved closer to their respective Trainer, as for what Daichi did…he just stayed calm and tried to look cool.

"Everyone except Cheren's, though…what are you going to do about that, big boy?" Professor Juniper asked in a teasing tone.

Cheren ignored that last remark from Juniper. She was teasing him for that rather rude interruption he made to her introduction…and that one about getting a life. He really needed to stop being so snarky.

"I'm working on that…" said Cheren. "Touya…I challenge you to a Pokémon Battle!"

Touya looked questioningly at Cheren as Ren jumped into his arms. Though, before Touya could say anything, Professor Juniper interrupted them.

"Hold it!" said Professor Juniper. "We're not doing any more battling until tomorrow, ya got that? It's late outside!"

Cheren and Touya just looked blankly at Juniper while Bel held up her Live Caster in front of her face.

"But it's only 16:30," said Bel. (2)

"That is late in my terms and I heard from your mother Touya," said Juniper. "You guys are leaving today?"

The trio nodded simultaneously, earning a somewhat stressed sigh from Professor Juniper. Juniper ran her hand through her hair, mussing it up a bit. Kiyo took note of this and began to mess with her Trainer's hair in the process of trying to fix it.

"Well…do you mind staying here until tomorrow?" asked Professor Juniper. "At least for the night, after that, you guys can go on and do whatever you want…just don't end up pregnant, understand?"

Cheren spoke first and answered for his friends. "Understood and…wait, what?"

Did he _hear_ that correctly?

Professor Juniper grinned. "Moving on! Now to get to the very reason I gave you your Pokémon aside from giving you guys a chance at freedom!"

Professor Juniper reached into her pocket and took out a small, rectangular-shaped device. She held it out for Touya, Bel, and Cheren to see.

"You want us to be your Pokédex holders, right?" asked Cheren.

Bel blinked owlishly and looked at Touya. "Pokédex?"

Touya shrugged as both he and Bel looked back at Professor Juniper. The professor was smiling as Cheren was just making it easier for her explanation.

"Oh, marvelous!" said Professor Juniper. "Spot on, Cheren! You're always studying up on Pokémon, eh? Let me tell you this straight out… No matter what happens, you'll always have a spot in my lab! I'll be expecting to see you as an understudy later in life!"

Cheren crossed his arms and exhaled. "Fat chance, I'm aiming to become Champion."

Professor Juniper grinned and pointed at Cheren. "Well, then…good luck! You're _really_ going to need it…but still, my offer will always be to your decision."

Cheren looked at Professor Juniper and smiled as he adjusted his glasses. "I'll keep that in mind."

Professor Juniper nodded in satisfaction and cleared her throat. "Anyways, to the main point…This Pokédex will automatically record the Pokémon you meet—"

"We don't have to catch 'em all, do we?" Cheren asked.

"Not really, this Pokédex is just here to help you out on your journey," Professor Juniper replied. "There's nothing more to record here in Unova…but if there is, then the Pokédex will record whatever information is there and update itself."

Bel looked closely at the Pokédex. "Whoa, that is awesome…"

Cheren sweat dropped and remarked, "You didn't understand a word she said, did you?"

Bel shook her head while saying, "Not really!"

Cheren and Juniper both sighed whilst Touya just laughed nervously. As for Akane, Daichi, and Ren…they were currently interacting with Kiyo.

"So, who's up for pot stickers?" Juniper asked as she began to make her way towards the kitchen. "Tepig, Snivy, Ren…follow Kiyo, she'll show you where your food is."

Kiyo's ears perked up and she looked at the Starter trio.

"_Chi!"_ she said, motioning at the trio to follow her.

A few hours later,

"Why are we doing this again?" Cheren asked, stopping quickly to get a better grip on the bucket he held in his arms. It wasn't easy carrying a change of clothes, soap, two towels, and a Snivy…that did nothing _but_ look cool!

"Because I've had a long day and I'm not going to leave you three alone in my lab…" Professor Juniper said as a matter of fact, slightly adjusting her hold on the bucket she carried in her arms. "Especially since I happen to _lack_ assistants…Ain't that right, Kiyo?"

Kiyo, who was standing on her Trainer's shoulder, nuzzled affectionately against Juniper's cheek. _"Chi~!"_

Cheren narrowed his eyes and let out an aggravated sigh. "Figures…"

Professor Juniper and the trio were currently heading towards Nuvema Town's Public Bath because the shower at the Professor's lab was broken and going a day without bathing is gross…well, in her opinion, it is. Especially since she had a Minccino that had a tendency to freak out when her Trainer and/or a person who stayed over wasn't always clean. Sometimes it actually sucked to have a neat-freak Pokémon, but the cleanup help was _so_ worth it…

Touya had been staring at Juniper the moment they had left the lab. His aunt was currently carrying the clothes she oh so lovingly said she picked out for him a while earlier. For some reason, Touya felt as if she had planned this out from the moment his mother notified his aunt.

As for Bel, she was walking happily alongside her Tepig, who was currently carrying a bucket on her back. Bel always liked going to the Public Bath…it was huge! And since it was summer, it was all the more reason for Bel to break into her new, spring green yukata. Just in time since in a few weeks, Striaton City will have its annual summer festival. Speaking of festivals…today was the Nuvema Town Firework Festival.

"I can't believe I forgot about this!" Bel chirped. "Thank you for making us stay, Professor!"

Professor Juniper smiled. "Any time, Bel…"

"_Mi!"_

Touya blinked and looked down to see Ren's head popping out of his jacket. A while earlier, Touya had zipped up his jacket with Ren still inside. It was something he'd done as a way of feeling closer to his Pokémon. Ren didn't seem to mind…in fact, he rather enjoyed it.

A hand came down upon Ren's head, gently rubbing the soft, short fur he had. Ren blinked and looked up at Touya, who had been petting him affectionately. He was smiling again…Ren liked it when Touya smiled; his eyes were warm, kind…and alive, when he smiled.

Ren huffed in a bit and nodded his head. It was official. As of now, he will do everything he could as Touya's Pokémon…no, as his _friend_, to get Touya to keep that smile. There was something about Touya that told Ren that he needed him.

Sometime later,

The group arrived to the public bath and despite the fireworks festival going on outside around the public bath, inside, it was actually rather empty.

"We have the whole place to ourselves!" Bel exclaimed as she rushed towards the shoe locker on the right side of the entrance. Akane followed Bel after Juniper handed the Fire Pig Pokémon a small key, which Akane held in her mouth.

Professor Juniper laughed awkwardly at the strange look the bathhouse attendant gave her as she paid for the group. Cheren sighed and just went to his gender respective side on the left. Touya, on the other hand, stood in place, conflicted.

Touya looked both ways at first the women's bath, then at the men's bath. A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Touya's face when he turned to Professor Juniper. Professor Juniper noticed this and directed Touya to the women's bath after handing him the bucket. Before the bathhouse attendant could protest about Touya heading into the wrong side, Juniper interrupted her and began to explain about Touya's…predicament.

* * *

Moments later inside the women's dressing room,

Touya looked around for Bel, but saw no sign of her or Akane. What he did find that belonged to Bel was a half-opened locker with a bucket inside. Bel's usual clothes were strewn about in a basket placed in one of the open shelves on the wall. Typical Bel…she left the key on the locker. What was the point of even using a locker when she used the open shelves?

Sighing, Touya walked over to Bel's basket and began to fold his friend's clothes neatly. This might as well be the last time Touya will ever do this for Bel in Nuvema Town since it was going to be a long time before any of them would return back to this place.

Ren just looked around the dressing room with a curious interest. It was huge…and there were a lot of lockers…what was this place? And why was it huge? Was that running water he just heard?

"_Mi~!"_ said Ren.

Ren liked the sound of running water! And—why was Touya putting Ren down? Ren blinked and looked up at Touya…only to have his Trainer's jacket dropped right on him (unintentionally, of course!).

"_Miju!"_ Ren said in a slightly muffled voice.

Touya blinked and looked down at his Oshawott as he started to take off his shirt. His Pokémon stirred under his jacket, obviously trying to find a way out from under it. It was a rather interesting sight to see…at least for Touya. He never knew how much interesting owning a Pokémon was…

Touya sighed and pulled off his shirt. "There are so many things to learn…now that I'm a Trainer."

After a few moments, which seemed much longer to Ren, the Pokémon had managed to pop out from under his Trainer's jacket. He shook his head a few times and looked up at his Trainer, his gaze now focusing on something that had caught his attention. Wrapped around Touya's chest, were white bandages.

"**Why is Touya wearing bandages?"** thought Ren. **"He's not hurt…is he?"**

Ren waved his arms around to try and get his Trainer's attention.

"_Miju!"_ exclaimed Ren. _"Mi!"_

Touya blinked and looked down back at Ren, who was currently pointing on the shell on his chest. His Oshawott was obviously trying to tell him something. By the look of his expression, Red was rather concerned as well, but about what? Touya blinked as he noticed Ren was pointing at his chest…but all Touya had on his chest, were bandages—

Immediately, Touya resisted the urge to slap his hand on his forehead. Of course that's why Ren looked concerned…he thought his Trainer was hurt. Well, that was rather sweet to know that Ren would worry over his wellbeing. Though, now that just leaves one problem…how would Touya explain his predicament to a Pokémon he just recently obtained?

Touya sighed and took off his cap. This was going to take a while and not to mention, it was also going to be embarrassing as Ren was still staring at him…or rather, her, as now was not the time to ignore his—her, actual gender.

* * *

Meanwhile in the bathing area,

Bel was having the time of her life washing her Tepig after learning that, despite her hatred and weakness of water, this happened to not apply to hot or warm water. This was proved to be true when Bel poured a bucket full of hot water over herself and Akane to wash off the soap on them. Akane didn't flinch at the sensation of the hot water pouring over her body. She seemed to actually enjoy this, a real nice change from the cold water she had to deal with earlier today.

Bel shook her head to shake the water off her head. "Fwah! That…felt nice…"

Akane shook herself a few times before replying, _"Poka, koba!"_

"You said it!" said Bel. "Glad we agree! Eh…?"

Bel had just turned her head only to find that sitting next to her in front of one of the washing stations next to hers…was Touya. Touya…who she knew was male and not female…

"Yaaah!" Bel exclaimed as she grabbed her towel to cover herself.

Touya looked blankly at Bel as he turned on the hot water faucet to fill up a bucket with water. Ren, curiosity getting the better of him, was currently messing with the showerhead in front of Touya. Somehow, Ren had managed to turn the showerhead on and, as luck would have it, Ren was messing with the temperature settings. As a result, cold water sprayed all over Touya, causing the boy to flail a bit at first before falling back off his stool. Bel winced at hearing the impact Touya had on the tiled floor with his head.

"_That _had_ to hurt…" _thought Bel.

"Gah!" yelped Touya.

Bel looked nervously at Touya before turning over to Ren, who was rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"_Miju…"_ said Ren.

Bel looked back at Touya and it was there that she remembered who he really was after seeing his blue eyes. She frowned as she lightly scratched the side of her head with her finger.

"Sorry about that, Touko…" Bel apologized. "I thought you were really Touya…"

Touya, or rather, Touko…sat up and rubbed the back of his-no, _her_ head. She looked at Bel rather miffed with something. Bel picked up Akane and stood up, now making her way towards the large bathtub. Touko sighed and looked at her Pokémon as he walked over to her. Ren kept going until he was right next to Touko.

Touko stared at Ren for a few seconds and smiled at him. She then picked him up and had him facing her. Their eyes met, their gaze locked onto each other. Both Trainer and Pokémon stared at each other for a full minute until a blast of warm water from the showerhead snapped them out of it. Ren and Touko shook their heads and turned to see who it had been. Holding onto the showerhead, was a towel-clad Juniper, who seemed rather pleased with what she just did. Currently scampering over to Ren and Touko was Kiyo, whose cheeks were at a weird proportion, which was caused by the fact that the Minccino currently had a shampoo bottle in her mouth. Kiyo opened her mouth and spat out the shampoo bottle onto the floor and began to wipe it a bit with her hand before handing it over to Touko.

"So…you want me to wash your hair like I did back then?" asked Professor Juniper.

Touko just looked strangely at Professor Juniper before turning to Ren. Ren seemed to have been asked the same question by Kiyo, the only problem was…he had no say in whether he wanted to or not as the Minccino was giving him the scrubbing of his life. Kiyo usually did this to Ren when the Oshawott was only a month old…she did this to about half of the starters (including Daichi and Akane) she felt close to.

"_**Good times…" **_Kiyo said as she made sure to get behind Ren's neck.

After getting the somewhat same treatment Ren got,

Touko grabbed her towel and made her way towards the bathtub. All she wanted to do now was finish taking her bath, get out, change back into her clothes, and go back to being Touya. She really didn't like the attention she was getting, now that she was out of her Touya persona. She felt even more exposed without her brown contact lenses to disguise her blue eyes…

Ren followed after his Trainer as he wanted to avoid a third scrubbing from Kiyo. If Ren could speak the human language, the first thing he would say was, "Do not want." Kiyo could be such a neat freak…

…

Bel was sitting in the bathtub, her body submerged in the hot water from the chest down. Her towel was folded neatly and was laid upon her head, damp from the bath's hot water. Akane resided within a bucket full of hot water that Bel held in her arms. Akane was too small and was actually incapable of swimming. Bel noticed this from the start, much to Akane's delight. Akane really did get a good Trainer…

"This feels nice, doesn't it?" Bel asked Akane.

"_Poka, koba…"_ Akane sighed dreamily.

A slight disturbance in the water, followed by a small, but audible splash, caused Akane and Bel to snap out of their dream-like state. They turned to see that Ren had just jumped into the bath. Touko followed after as she slowly sat down into the tub. Touko sighed and began to fold her towel neatly before placing it on top of her hair. Just then, Ren passed by her, floating gently in the water on his back.

Ren liked this place…it was like lake, only the water was warm and there were weird contraptions that sprayed water. It was so different…but Ren liked different!

"_Miju~!"_ said Ren.

Bel looked at Touko, her gaze seeming to be directed at the girl's chest, to which the brunette reacted by moving her arm over to cover it. Bel blinked and laughed nervously as she tried to figure out a way to break the awkward silence between them.

"So…he really is gone…" Bel said softly.

Touko looked down. "Yeah…he is…"

Bel frowned. "What's going to happen, then?"

Touko shrugged. "I really don't know…"

Bel moved over to Touko to get a better looked at her. The blonde frowned at the sight of the brunette's short hair. "You cut your hair…and it was just starting to grow back. It's so short…"

Touko lightly pulled a lock of her brown hair and looked at it. "Does it really matter? It'll just get in the way—"

Touko blinked as she found herself face to face with a slightly annoyed Bel.

"Yes…yes it does!" Bel said, grabbing onto Touko's shoulders. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to grow long hair? You worked so hard to grow it out…but ever since that day, you just cut it all off and refuse to let it grow!"

Touko averted Bel's gaze. "I just…it's complicated…"

How could she look like Touya if long hair was in the way? And, truth be told, Touko had lost all interest in growing out her hair. She also lost interest in being Touko, making it much more difficult for her to even be two people. That was the deal she made with Professor Juniper…

Touko could go on her journey as Touya, but she still had to remember that she was also Touko. Why was she allowing herself to be referred to by her real name? She sighed and decided to just let it be. There was no point in passing as Touya if she wasn't dressed up like him…

"_Koba!"_ exclaimed Akane.

Bel and Touko turned to Akane. Akane was struggling to keep the bucket she was in from capsizing. It was rather hard and luckily, Akane had Ren to keep her from overturning. After a few seconds, Akane let out a mushroom sigh and thanked Ren.

"_Miju!"_ Ren said as he rubbed the back of his head.

Bel laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, Akane!"

Akane just smiled and nodded at Bel. She knew the girl didn't mean to…

"So…what do you think Cheren is doing on the other side?" asked Bel.

Touko shrugged and placed her towel over her face. "Most likely arguing with Daichi…"

* * *

Meanwhile on the other side,

Cheren and Daichi were currently in the men's side of the bathhouse, seemingly alone and currently arguing, just as Touko had suggested. Though, Cheren and Daichi weren't completely alone as a green-haired young man, with his Tepig, happened to be a few feet away from the Trainer and his Starter.

"Prick," said Cheren.

"_Taaj!"_ retorted Daichi.

"What did I tell you about language?" Cheren asked in a slightly angry voice.

_**"What did I tell you about calling me a prick?" **_Daichi remarked.

Cheren sighed and adjusted his glasses at this retaliation. "Touché…"

"You and your Pokémon seem to be getting along quite well…" said a voice.

Cheren glared at the green-haired young man. Did he not see Cheren and Daichi fight? "Sure we are…"

The green-haired young man looked questioningly at Cheren, obviously not getting his sarcasm. Cheren blinked a few times and immediately sat up straight.

"Hold on…Where did you come from?" asked Cheren. _"Wait…that was a stupid question to ask…"_

Cheren cleared his throat. "Let me rephrase that…how long have you been there?"

The green-haired young man blinked. "I was here a few minutes before you got in."

Cheren looked at the young man and nodded. "Okay…Hey, is that a Tepig?"

The green-haired young man looked at his shoulder, where his Tepig was currently lying on his stomach. He looked back at Cheren and nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, he is," said the young man. "I take it you've seen one before."

"Yeah, my friend has one with her on the other side…" said Cheren. "Oddly enough, she and it get along quite nicely, unlike me and this Snivy."

Cheren immediately glared at Daichi, their eyes staring into each other's as a current of electricity crackled in between them. The green-haired young man looked at them questioningly before looking at his Tepig.

"_Koba, koba…"_ said Tepig.

"Yes, I believe we haven't," the young man said, nodding in agreement with Tepig. "My name is N…what's yours?"

Cheren blinked and snapped out of his intense staring contest with Daichi to look at the young man named N. He was used to hearing people being named after colors, jewels, and metals, but not a letter…

"_Is his name really N?"_ thought Cheren. "Er…I'm Cheren and I'm not sure whether or not I'm glad to meet your or anyone at the matter."

N chuckled a bit and picked up his Tepig. He gazed into its eyes and wondered aloud. "Wasn't there another boy with you guys?"

Cheren looked slightly concerned with this question. _"Crap…Touko didn't tell me what to do if I was asked this! What to do…what to do?"_

Daichi noticed his Trainer's concerned look and remembered what the bookworm told him about Ren's Trainer. Poor girl…feeling a bit merciful for keeping the girl's secret (and not his Trainer's anxiety), he said, _"Taaja, taa!"_

Cheren blinked and looked at Daichi, nodding in agreement. "That's right…he wasn't feeling too well. So he decided to wait for us outside…we'll probably find him by a taiyaki stand."

N frowned and placed his Tepig down onto the tiled floor. Tepig shook himself of the excess water that was on him, his short orange and black fur puffing up a bit.

"That's a shame…I've been meaning to check out your friend's Oshawott," said N. "But I guess I'll have to do that another time…"

Cheren arched his brow at N. "What do you mean by that?"

N smiled at Cheren. "Well, somewhere along the way, we might meet up again."

"So you've just started your journey…" said Cheren.

"I guess you could say that…" N said, somewhat uncertain.

Cheren turned to his Snivy. "What a coincidence, we started ours, too… Well, we won't actually start until tomorrow."

N looked questioningly at Cheren. "Why is that?"

"My friend's aunt is Professor Juniper…" Cheren replied. "She's not letting us go until tomorrow…So what brings you here in Nuvema Town? I know you're not a resident since I've never seen you here before."

N stared at his Tepig, whom walked over to Cheren's Snivy. "I'm here with my father…it's something business related. Well, it was fun talking to you, but I gotta get going."

And with that, N stood up and walked out of the bathing area, leaving Cheren to think to himself.

"Weird guy…" Cheren said to himself after N left. "He sure talks fast…"

There was something about N. He seemed a bit awkward talking to Cheren. However, when it came to his Tepig, N was able to communicate more easily. There was definitely something strange about N…

"_Taaja,"_ said Daichi. _**"You owe me big time…"**_

Cheren sighed. "Fine, I'll give you some taiyaki once we get out of here."

Daichi immediately perked up and looked at Cheren with adoration. Cheren looked questioningly at his Snivy, but even then, he couldn't help but think how cute his Pokémon was.

…

* * *

…

Touko sighed as Professor Juniper, who was clad in a sea-green yukata with a red obi, quickly tied and fitted the dark pink obi around her waist. Standing back to observe afterwards, Juniper nodded.

"Beautiful…just beautiful," she said. "Now get over here so I can get these hair extensions on you."

The clothes Professor Juniper had picked out for her niece was a simple white yukata with a light pink, sakura petal pattern for Nuvema Town's Firework Festival. Touko sat down in a chair in front of the Professor and sighed once more as the older woman began to clip-on the extensions onto her hair. The color nearly resembled Touko's own and the type was nearly identical to her originally long and fluffy-like, wavy hair. The professor had ordered the extensions not long after Touko cut her hair short, but the extensions were never used until now. Touko had been firm on keeping her hair short, even if it was extensions. But now, Touko had no choice and the professor felt rather smug.

Once the professor had done her job, Juniper handed Touko a mirror. Touko stared in disbelief in the mirror as she noticed the long side-bangs framing her face and the simple ponytail her hair was pulled into, the extensions adding in some length. The hair extensions captured Touko's original appearance, as well as added a bit of feminine aura to her disposition. The white yukata she wore just added in some features that brought out her natural charm.

To Touko, it was a nightmare! She could see herself clearly and it made her uncomfortable. She felt vulnerable…

However, Professor Juniper took it differently than Touko. Touko looked exactly like her older sister, Monta. The resemblance was uncanny and Juniper had to remind herself that this was her niece, not older sister.

Bel stared at Touko in awe. This was the first time in two years that she had seen Touko look like this. "Touko, you look beautiful!"

Ren stared at his Trainer agape, his eyes sparkling in awe. He never knew that his Trainer could be this pretty…and that was right after he was told that his Trainer was a girl.

Akane was pretty much the same like Ren, only when she stared at her own Trainer, she was tearing up a bit. How could her Trainer be so cute?

Touko blushed slightly as the spring-green yukata clad blonde rushed over to her side. Bel wore a spring green yukata that brought out her curvy body (that seemed to get curvier and curvier with each day…not that Touko was looking!). The yukata had a white flower pattern and tied around Bel's waist, was a soft yellow obi. She had just finished tying in two green hair bobbles into her short, blonde hair.

Bel looked rather adorable, though slightly younger with those bobbles in her hair. Still, the look suited her and Touko wouldn't have it any other way.

"Cute…" was all Touko had to say.

Bel smiled and grabbed onto Touko's hand. "Let's go!"

Touko yelped as Bel began to drag her out of the changing room. "But what about Juniper—"

Professor Juniper waved at Bel as her Minccino tied up her hair. "I'll handle it! You just go on ahead!"

The moment those words left her mouth, Bel and Touko were gone, their Pokémon quickly trailing after them out of the dressing room. Professor Juniper sighed and looked at her Minccino, who was currently grooming herself.

"They grow up so fast, don't they?" she asked.

Kiyo stopped grooming herself long enough for her to say, _"Chi!"_

Professor Juniper smiled and began to pick up the clothes in the baskets as she was going to make a trip back to the lab to drop off some things. Kiyo stopped grooming herself to give her Trainer a hand.

Sometime later outside in the festival,

Touko sighed and slightly tightened her embrace on Ren as she looked around the many stalls. Bel and her Tepig had left Touko to drag Cheren and Daichi towards one of the many game stalls. The brunette smiled as she could guess which game Bel wanted Cheren to watch her play. It was a carving game, katanuki.

Bel always had difficulty accomplishing B-ranked carvings and, since Cheren was the one usually watching her attempt to carve out the Pokémon from their molds, it was not unlike of the boy to let out a smart aleck remark that would make Bel furious. And it was up to this day, Bel would always try to prove to Cheren that she did _not_ suck at katanuki. So far, she's improved from the low-leveled ranked carvings, to B-ranked carvings. All she needed was a little more practice and then she could move on to A-ranked carvings!  
Touko smiled as she began to look around. She spotted a taiyaki stand and realized that she was a little hungry. She looked at Ren and held out her hand to him. Ren nodded and handed Touko a small, little blue bag, which inside, held Touko's Pokédollars.

A few moments later,

Touko reached into a small paper bag she held in her arms and pulled out a taiyaki in the shape of an Alomomola. She lifted it up to Ren, whom she carried on her shoulder. Ren stared at the Alomomola-shaped cake curiously before taking a small bite out of it. The sweet, rich flavor of milk chocolate overwhelmed Ren's taste as he delightfully chewed on the bite of taiyaki he took.

Touko smiled at her Oshawott and took a bite out of the taiyaki, not caring that she took a bite out of the same spot.

Ren felt happy and all warm and fuzzy inside. He was really lucky to have had a Trainer like Touko. They barely met today, but Ren felt like he had known Touko for so long… They were close already. Maybe there was someone up there who really loved him today…

"_Mi~!"_ said Ren.

Touko looked at Ren as she chewed, smiling afterwards when she noticed his distinct happiness. "You like taiyaki, huh?"

Ren nodded and smiled when Touko handed him the rest of the Alomomola-shaped taiyaki.

"Here, you can have it all," said Touko. "I got more."

Ren took a bite out of the taiyaki and smiled. _"Miju!"_

"Dangit!" exclaimed a loud voice. "I almost had it!"

"C'mon Bel, you know you suck," said another voice.

Touko stopped in her tracks as she and Ren turned to see that standing a few feet away from them in front of a stall, was Bel and Cheren, who was clad in a dark indigo yukata with a black kaku obi (4). Daichi and Akane were standing on the table of where Bel was standing in front of to do something. Assuming from Bel's outburst (and her position by the table) and Cheren's remark, Bel had been attempting a higher-ranked carving and had almost completed it when it cracked, causing Cheren to let out a smart aleck remark.

"Shut it, Cheren!" snapped Bel. "I don't want your smartass remarks! Give me another A-ranked!"

The man running the stall reached under the table and pulled out a small, rectangular-shaped mold with an outline of a Ducklett. Bel immediately grabbed it after giving the man a quick 'thanks'. She then began to use the small pick she held in her right hand to carefully carve on the line. This went on for about a minute until…

"Aagh!" exclaimed Bel. "It cracked!"

"You suck…" Cheren plain out said once more.

"Quiet, you!" snapped Bel. "Another A-ranked one, please!"

Cheren sighed and adjusted his glasses as a small smirk began to form on his lips. In truth, he was only teasing the blonde and meant no harm…it's just that her reaction was always so amusing. And the way she looked in that yukata only made Bel seem even cuter…wait, hold that thought!

"_Did I just think _cute_?"_ Cheren thought, the word cute, coming out in his thoughts in a distasteful tone._ "Bel and cute don't mix…airhead, yes, ditz, of course, cute…never!"_

Cheren felt awkward at the moment and confused as to where the hell that word came from. And why did he suddenly have the urge to blurt out—

"You're adorable," Cheren suddenly blurted out, causing Bel to mess up due to the sudden outburst startling her.

Bel immediately turned around to face Cheren, her expression clearly enraged as she glared at her friend. "What the hell Cheren? I almost really had it this time and…did you just call me adorable?"

Bel expression seemed to soften at this realization, making it harder for Cheren to think of a way to deny it. Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place, though aside from that…

"_Where the hell did that come from?"_ thought Cheren. _"Friggin' hormones…"_

Daichi and Akane just sighed and shook their heads as Bel began to gang up on Cheren. The poor guy…

Ren and Touko blinked owlishly as they stared blankly at Bel and Cheren. They had no clue what just happened between the blonde and the glasses-wearing boy. Sighing, Touko decided to continue walking on when something, or rather, someone, caught her eye.

It was a green-haired young man. He was currently trying out the shooting gallery. By the looks of it, he seemed to have trouble maneuvering the rifle he was given to play the game.

Touko stared at the green-haired young man before continuing to walk on. She felt the need to eat something cold…

A few moments later,

Touko walked away from the kakigori (5) stall, eating shaved ice flavored with cherry syrup. She had just used her spoon to scoop a spoonful of shaved ice to share with Ren when the very same green-haired young man standing in front of the same shooting gallery caught her attention. By the look of his Tepig (whom Touko just noticed) trying to catch his Trainer's attention, the young man seemed to have been at the shooting gallery for quite some time.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Touko decided to walk over to the shooting gallery to get a better look at the man.

"_Koba!"_ Tepig said as he nudged his head against his Trainer's ankle.

The young man stopped and set down the rifle onto the table to bend down and pick up his Tepig. He stood up straight and placed his Pokémon on the table. Through the corner of his eye, he realized that he wasn't the only person in line for the shooting gallery anymore. He turned and found himself staring down at a girl, who was a good amount of height shorter than he was. She seemed fourteen at the most, three years his minor. On her shoulder, was a small Oshawott holding a cup of shaved ice, eating it with a delighted expression.

The Oshawott reminded him of the one he saw with a boy, but this one was with a girl…she also reminded him something. Her expression…and her face… She reminded him of one of the toys he had in his playroom back at his home, but which one was it again?

…

Touko blinked as she got a better look at the green-haired young man. He had long, tea green hair drawn into a ponytail and gray eyes filled with what seemed to be childish innocence. He was taller than her (obviously) by a good amount of height and seemed to be no older than seventeen. He wore a blue yukata with a black and white heko obi…a heko obi…

"_Don't little boys usually wear that type of obi with their yukatas?"_ thought Touko.

Younger boys usually wore the heko obi with their yukatas out in public, usually for festivals as the type and tie for it was informal for an adult man to wear in anyplace aside from home. But the older teen didn't seem to care or even acknowledge that fact, but after getting a closer look at the young man, the heko obi actually really did suit him. A kaku obi would probably not have gone well with this young man's appearance…or at least in Touko's opinion.

"A doll…" he said.

Touko blinked and stared at the green-haired individual. "Wha?"

"A doll…you look like one of my dolls!" the young man said straight out. "Like the ones I used to have in my playroom!"

Touko sweat dropped as she began to wonder, _"He still has a playroom?"_

"Hey, are any of you two going to play at all?" asked the man. "Otherwise, go flirt somewhere else!"

Touko and the green-haired individual both turned to the man with a perplexed look.

"Eh?" they both said, confused with the last comment the man just said.

The man sighed and shook his head as he said, "Look, are you guys going to play or not?"

The green-haired young man blinked and looked down at the table after feeling a slight nudge from his Tepig.

"_Poka, poka!"_ said Tepig.

The green-haired young man blinked and nodded his head a few times before he picked up the rifle. He then aimed at one of the prizes he wanted to get: a black and white bracelet. He liked how simple it was and the gleam the white pattern on the bracelet gave when light reflected off it, much like the three golden ringlets he wore on his left wrist did. He aimed the rifle at the bracelet, but his shooting was a bit…erratic.

The young man stopped and looked at the rifle, frowning a bit in dismay. His Tepig seemed to be trying to cheer his Trainer up as it began talking to him. Touko blinked and looked at her Oshawott, only to find herself now looking at it sternly as she noticed that Ren ate all of the shaved ice, the empty cup giving note of that. Ren looked sheepishly at Touko as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

"_Miju-ma…"_ Ren said.

Touko sighed and just smiled at him and said, "It's okay…we'll just get another, but first…"

Touko picked up Ren and placed him on the table next to the green-haired young man's Tepig. She then turned to the green-haired young man and tapped his shoulder to get his attention. The young man turned to Touko and blinked as the brunette held out her hand to him.

"May I?" she asked.

The green-haired young man blinked again and nodded as he held out the rifle to the brunette. Touko grabbed his hand with hers and began to adjust his hold on the rifle. Afterwards, she helped him out with his aim and then…

BANG!

Tepig and Oshawott flinched at the loud noise the rifle made after the green-haired young man pulled the trigger. Touko gently patted the top of Ren's head as a way to comfort him as the green-haired young man smiled ecstatically, having been able to shoot the bracelet, all thanks to the girl who reminded him of one of his dolls…

Right after the man handed him the black and white bracelet, the green-haired young man grabbed the girl's hand and bowed respectfully to her.

"Thank you," he said.

Touko blinked and laughed nervously as she rubbed the back of her head. The guy was so grateful to her, that it was a bit embarrassing…but he seemed to be staring at her questioningly, as if he was waiting for—"Oh, I'm Touko!"

The green-haired young man nodded and replied to this by saying his own name, "I'm N…pleasure to meet you, Touko!"

"_What kind of name is N?"_ thought Touko. _"Well, I shouldn't be one to judge since my middle name _is_ White…but his is a letter and mine is—is he touching my hair?"_ (6)

"Touko's hair doesn't seem real here…" N said aloud as he tugged slightly on Touko's ponytail.

Touko yelped and distanced herself away from N as she held her ponytail. "_Crap…how did he know that was fake?"_

N walked over to Touko and looked over her hair curiously. "Why is your hair fake there?"

"Well…I have short hair…" was all Touko could say. She had no idea how to react to being asked such a question.

N arched his brow at Touko and said, "That doesn't explain why you have fake hair."

"Well, you see…sometimes people use fake hair-er, hair extensions… to make their hair seem longer," Touko explained. "My aunt placed hair extensions in my hair because mine was short."

N nodded and said, "Oh…Touko reminds me even more like a doll…"

Touko blinked and laughed nervously. There he went on, comparing her to one of his dolls…Touko felt like she was forgetting something.

"_Miju!"_ exclaimed Ren.

Touko's head turn to Ren, who was currently flailing his arms around to catch his Trainer's attention. He was still standing on the table with N's Tepig.

"Oh right, you!" said Touko. "Sorry, N, but I gotta go! See ya!"

Touko waved at N, who had just finished placing his bracelet on his right wrist, and then started running towards the shooting gallery to pick up Ren. Afterwards, she started to walk away from the shooting gallery, leaving N to think to himself. His Tepig jumped down from the table and scampered over to his Trainer. He then nudged his Trainer's ankle to catch his attention.

"_Poka!"_ said Tepig.

N bent down to pick up Tepig and replied, "Yes, she is quite different from other humans…but a good different."

However…there was something about her that N felt she was hiding. There was another reason Touko reminded him of his dolls…it was how glazed her eyes were. They almost appeared to be empty if one didn't look close enough to find the small spark of life that was so desperately struggling to stay alive.

Sometime later,

Touko looked around for Cheren and Bel, wondering where the two had gone off to. Suddenly, some distressed barking caught her attention. She turned and looked around to see where the barking was coming from. She walked a bit in the direction she thought the barking came from only for the volume of it to start getting louder and more pained than distressed. Suddenly, she came upon a small group of little boys. All of them, save for a black-haired boy, were hunched over as they circled around something on the ground.

The boy separated from them, appeared rather concerned and was currently yelling at them to stop what they were doing. The boy wore an orange yukata with a yellow obi and seemed to be around eight years old…nine or ten at the oldest. From the looks of the small stains of dirt on his yukata, the boy seemed to have gotten into a scuffle with the group of boys.

"C'mon, stop it!" yelled the boy. "You're hurting her!"

A loud yelping noise made the boy immediately want to jump the group, but he was outnumbered. He needed to find someone quick or else they would seriously hurt that Pokémon they were ganging up on. The boy looked around and spotted Touko with her Oshawott.

"Lady!" he exclaimed. "Oi, lady!"

Touko blinked as the boy ran over to her, looking rather anxious about something.

"Lady, you gotta stop them!" the boy said. "They're hurting her!"

Touko immediately turned to the group of boys as another loud yelp came from them. "Who's her?"

The boy grabbed onto Touko's arm and began pulling her towards the group. "A Lillipup! Hurry! They're hurting her!"

Touko took no time to react as she quickly rushed over to the group of boys.

"Hey, quit it!" she yelled.

One of the boys looked up at Touko and smirked. "Oh, yeah? What are you going to do about it?"

Touko blinked and looked at her Oshawott and grinned. Ren knew immediately what she was thinking and nodded as he looked at the boys and breathed in.

"_Miju-ma!"_ he exclaimed, letting out a spiral of water from his mouth aim at the boys.

The group of boys screamed as they were quickly drenched with water…_cold_ water. The boys stood up and didn't hesitate to run away, crying for their mothers that a mean lady attacked them with her Pokémon. By then, Touko would already be gone and even so, she had that boy in the orange yukata to back her up. It was self-defense, yo.

Touko walked over to where the group was previously at and knelt down by the small, puppy-like Pokémon that the group had been bullying. The Pokémon was small…and it had fluffy caramel-colored fur with a grey patch of it on its back. Its face was covered with an abundance of light, cream-colored fur. The Pokémon shook itself, trying to shake off the water on its fur.

It stopped and opened its big, black eyes to see that Touko was holding her hand out in front of it.

The Pokémon back up a bit, its tail tucked in between its legs in fear. Touko just smiled warmly and waited patiently, her hand still outstretched for Lillipup. Then, slowly, the Lillipup walked closer towards Touko, its small, pink nose sniffing carefully at her hand. A full minute of this had gone on before the Puppy Pokémon barked happily and licked the Touko's hand, having trusted her.

Touko smiled and petted the Puppy Pokémon's soft, fluffy fur on the top of its head. The Lillipup barked again as it wagged its short tail; happy that the ordeal it had been going through had ended. Its ears perked up to a sound it managed to pick up and after taking a few sniffs, the Lillipup barked happily and scampered over to the boy in the orange yukata. The boy knelt down and laughed as the Lillipup jumped into his arms and began to lick his face.

"I'm glad you're safe, Kuri!" said the boy. "They didn't hurt you seriously, did they?"

Lillipup barked in response as it happily wagged its tail. The boy smiled and looked at Touko.

"Thanks a lot, lady!" he said.

Touko blinked and smiled as she walked over to the boy. "No problem…What's your name? I'm Touko."

"Takahiro!" said the boy. (7)

Touko smiled and asked, "So, Takahiro…where are you from? I know you don't live in Nuvema Town."

Takahiro stood up and answered, "I'm from Striaton City! My parents brought me here to see the fireworks…hey, is that an Oshawott?"

Touko blinked and looked at Ren before picking him up and holding him out to Takahiro.

"Yeah, it is!" said Touko. "He's my partner…I just got him today!"

Touko placed Ren on the ground and patted him on the head. Takahiro looked at them in disbelief. They were so close…it was hard to believe they had only known each other for a day.

"Wow…I thought you had him longer than that…" said Takahiro.

Touko laughed a bit and looked at the Lillipup in Takahiro's arms. "So…her name's Kuri…Is she yours?"

Takahiro shook his head. "No, she just followed me after I gave her some of my chestnut bread. She really likes chestnut bread."

"Is that why you named her Kuri?" asked Touko.

Takahiro nodded and hugged Kuri. "My mom said I could keep her if she followed us back…She's been following us around since yesterday after we had our picnic on route one."

Touko smiled. "She must really like you…I'll bet she knows you're going to be the best Trainer there is."

Takahiro smiled widely, showing of the little gaps his missing teeth made. "I will be! I'm aiming for Champion, but that'll be a long way until I get there…I mean, I'm only nine. I still got five more years until I'm able to go on my journey…which means this little guy is going to be cooped up with me until then."

Takahiro looked at Kuri right in the face, laughing when the Lillipup licked his nose. He turned to Touko and held out the Lillipup.

"That's why I want you to have her!" said Takahiro. "I want her to see the world, travel, make new friends, and battle Pokémon she's never met! She won't be doing that for a while if she's with me…so…she's yours!"

Takahiro handed Kuri over to Touko, who just looked at the boy in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

Takahiro looked at Touko, his eyes glistening with tears. He stayed quiet for a few moments before answering, "Yeah, I'm sure…but! You have to promise me something!"

Touko nodded and asked, "Sure, what is it?"

"Kuri is still a puppy, but…" said Takahiro. "If she ever has puppies when she gets older…give me one!"

Touko blinked and looked at Kuri for a full minute before nodded in agreement. "Okay…it's a promise…And that's _if_ she ever does."

"Doesn't matter…at least pay me a visit at Striaton City," said Takahiro. "My parents run the Pokémart in the Pokémon Center there so it won't be hard to find me, got it?"

Touko nodded and Takahiro smiled as he began to turn around.

"Well…see ya!" Takahiro said, waving at Touko, Ren, and Kuri. "Good bye, Kuri! I'll miss ya!"

And with that, Takahiro ran off to look for his parents. Touko watched at the boy disappeared into the distance. Afterwards, she lifted up Kuri and looked at her face-to-face.

"Hey, there…I'm your new Trainer," said Touko. "I hope we can be good friends."

Ren leaned against Touko's leg and looked up at the Lillipup. _"Miju!"_

Lillipup looked at Touko and barked happily before licking the brunette on the nose. Touko smiled and bent down to pick up Ren.

"Well, it's official…Kuri is our new friend," said Touko. "I'm sure we'll have a great time with her, right, Ren?"

Ren nodded in agreement and laughed when Kuri began to lick his face. Touko laughed along and began to walk away, once again returning back to what she was originally doing…which was looking for Cheren and Bel.

"Where the heck are they?" Touko asked herself.

Unbeknownst to her, Touko was being watched by the green-haired young man known as N. N had found an interest in Touko back at the shooting gallery and even now, his interest only grew. He looked down at him Tepig.

"_Poka, poka,"_ said Tepig.

N nodded in agreement. "Yes, she is quite different…she's definitely not like the humans father told me about, right?"

Tepig closed his eyes and nodded. _"Koba!"_

"Good…that means she's our friend," said N. "Maybe she'll understand us, then…"

…

…

* * *

A/N End of chapter…there you have it! Also, FYI, if you hadn't noticed…THIS IS AU! Meaning it'll still use the game plot, but I'm adding stuff in and maybe switching things around. And for some odd reason, despite the fact that Unova is based off New York, I'm putting more Japanese cultural things into Unova…it might be because I've known _Black_ and _White_ back when Unova was Isshu and the Pokémon had no English names. Just remember that…plus, I'm watching the Japanese version of the anime, so I guess that also had part in this.

As of 7-11-12, I am editing this story and splitting it up to where I see fit, so it'll take a while before I even reach the first gym…Sorry, but everything except what happened since the last update of the previous version of this fic has been written out already.

Kiyo: Means purity…I dunno! It just seemed like it would suit a Minccino.

Akane: Can be written as "madder" or "red dye"… yeah, it's more of a reference.

Daichi: Means great wisdom and I'm pretty sure it has something to do with land…either way, it fits Snivy because of its Pokédex entry saying something about its intelligence.

Ren: It means water lily…it's simple, shut up!

Kuri: Means chestnut…don't question me! I already made an explanation!

12-13-11 I finally figured out what that game was! I thank _Honey and Clover_ for it…man, that manga had a bittersweet ending to it. It was nice, though.

Now time for the little notes!

(1) Professor Juniper said that in the game…well, in the version 7 translations of Pokémon Black and White, which is where I'm getting half the dialogue from. I just realized that she said boys and girls…yeah, and seeing as Cheren can pass for a girl and since Touko is cross-dressing…you can see where I went. XD

Also, because I am firm on letting the Professor keep her Japanese name, I made Juniper (English name) her first name. So her full name is Juniper Araragi (Jr.) and her father is Cedric Araragi (Sr.), just to let you know. That way, we still have Professor Juniper and a Professor Araragi (even if he's known as Dr. Araragi in the Japanese version…).

(2) Please note that I am using the 24-hour format…why? Dude, I'm used to this format after playing Platinum and Soul Silver! Though, Black and White did change that to the usual one…eh, screw it! I'm keeping that on and BTW, that's 4:30 PM in our time.

(3) I inadvertently made a reference to how Akane Tendo doesn't know how to swim…dude! It was just there because Tepig is a fire-type and it is small…the incapable of swimming part just popped into mind because of those two things. Yeah…

(4) A kaku obi is a type of obi men wear…just look it up and compare it to the heko obi. It's not that hard…ugh…

(5) It's shaved ice…just look it up! DX

(6) Well, Touko's name is White in the _Pokémon Adventures_ manga…yeah! And as of a while ago for a good time, N isn't N's real name, but it stands for it.

(7) In the game on Route 2, there is a Youngster named Takahiro (forgot his name in the English version)…his team consists of only one Pokémon and that's a Lillipup.

Well, the editing process for this fic is painful, but I'm getting there! Wait patiently for the next chapter—NO FLAMES! DX Until next time, KD out! XD


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